Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson

Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson

1149 WordsFeb 2nd, 20185 Pages

Most teens are trying to figure out who they are, what they believe, and how they fit into the world around them. Beginning in the late 1970s, a whole genre of fiction, referred to as coming-of-age literature, emerged and serves, at least fore many teens, as believable presentations of young people learning to navigate the difficulties of their lives, often fraught with feelings of rejection, seemingly unresolvable personal turmoil, social problems, school and family issues, etc. Indeed one value of reading is to see and better understand some aspect of ourselves through studying others. The reading of SPEAK, a somewhat controversial book because of its subject mater – rape --, is a worthwhile endeavor in any middle school classroom and offers many valuable life lessons to young teens. One of the many lessons, and Melinda’s main focus at school, is art. Art is not only a hobby, but also a way to better express oneself. Melinda says, in the beginning of the novel, “Art follow lunch, like dream follows nightmare.” (9). For many kids, having a hobby is an escape from the bad events in their life, whether it is social issues, school issues, or problems at home. With art, Melinda finds a way to escape the torture of the rest of her day. Another remark about art, from Melinda’s art teacher, suggests it as a pleasant subject of the day: “This is where you can find your…

the ones to cherish and appreciate the most. The novel Speak written by Laurie Halse Anderson is based on a fourteen year-old girl named Melinda, who was sexually assaulted at a summer party. She called the police for help but since none of her friends knew what occurred, they assumed she called to get them all in trouble. This made her an outcast and she spent her ninth-grade year by herself. The theme of friendship is evident in the novel Speak as it impacts the protagonist Melinda. This is seen through…

Speak is a cleaver and an ironic title for a story in which the main character chooses not to speak. The story is written in first-person narration from the point of view of protagonist, Melinda Sordino. Speak is written like an interior monologue in the mind of an introverted teenage girl, like excerpts from her personal diary during her miserable freshman year of high school. Instead of blending in and finding her way through high school. She withdraws and secludes herself from the other students…

Speak Essay
Melinda was an outcast and loner in high school who was overwhelmed, fearful, and confused with her life and her environment at school. She was always silent in class and afraid to speak in front of people. Many students today might feel the need to fit in with other people so they wouldn’t have to be looked down upon. As we take a look at Melinda’s life we’ll be able to see how she handles her daily conflicts. In the book, Speak, Melinda Sordino, an incoming freshman at Merryweather…

to her, and she escapes into the dark forests of her mind. “I am Outcast” (Anderson 4). But something about that party was not right. Something she tried not to relive but to forget. “I have worked so hard to forget every second of that stupid party, and here I am in the middle of a hostile crowd that hates me for what I had to do. I can’t tell them what really happened. I can’t even look at that part of myself” (Anderson 28). Depression is a serious mental disorder. The duration and symptoms vary…

Many kids have not been to jail or experienced the loss of a close sibling or parent, and we do not understand the difficulty of being a slave. We can not even imagine that these terrible phenomena can occur. The book Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson depicts two young, black slaves that have survived through the uprising of the Revolutionary War, the immoralities of slavery, and the tragic loss of family members.Throughout the book, Curzon and Isabel suffer through multiple events that have made them…

Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson
Speak, by Laurie Halse Anderson, is a story written in the first person about a young girl named Melinda Sordino. The title of the book, Speak, is ironically based on the fact that Melinda chooses not to speak. The book is written in the form of a monologue in the mind of Melinda, a teenage introvert. This story depicts the story of a very miserable freshman year of high school. Although there are several people in her high school, Melinda secludes herself from…

voice of the audience of their literature. Laurie Halse Anderson does a good job of this throughout the novel, giving a reasonable summary of what life in high school could be for a freshman. While a freshman in high school may have trouble adjusting to life from eighth grade to ninth grade, Anderson does a good job of including incidents from Melinda’s past to show exactly what she’s trying to say through the novel. This high school feel is exactly what Anderson intended, as it showed just how horrible…

Point of View:
The novel is narrated by Mattie Cook in the first person. She is only able to speak for herself. The only thoughts and feelings she displays are her own and the story is set wherever she is.
Setting:
The story takes place in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1973. The epidemic hits the city in the late summer months and lasts until December. Mattie lives with with her mother and grandfather above a coffeehouse her family owns. There is little medical knowledge at the time which leads…

…waffles (180)” (Anderson 5). Lia constantly keeps track of the calories she eats. Unlike Cassie who follows the path of bulimia, Lia inhibits herself from eating, therefore not getting the proper nutrients. This allows the readers to know how a person with a disorder like Lia can restrain herself from eating foods that we’re used to eating in our regular lives. Her ultimate goal frequently change, getting lower and lower each time. Lia strives for a “five hundred calories a day” (Anderson 189). Her constant…

The book Fever by Laurie Halse Anderson is a story about the yellow fever epidemic taking over Matilda’s state of Philadelphia. Forge, the sequel too Chains also by Laurie Halse Anderson, is about Curzon’s life in the army and how he reunites with Isabel. The main characters from Fever, Matilda, and the main character from Forge and Chains, Curzon, act similar when they both feel threatened or when they are forced too act. However they act differently when it comes too responsibility. Both Matilda…